Al-Qaeda No. 3 men - the Spinal Tap drummers of our era
One day, there will be a study that shows that Al-Qaeda’s No. 3 leaders just naturally explode every six months or so. Until that day, however, we just need to accept that the terrorist organization has a personnel problem in line with Spinal Tap and its huge pile of dead drummers.
A senior al Qaeda terrorist who allegedly plotted and carried out attacks against U.S. and coalition forces was killed in Pakistan, a knowledgeable Western official and a military source told CNN Thursday.
He was identified as Abu Laith al-Libi, 41, who was on the military’s most wanted list.
Al-Libi was thought to have been involved in the February 2007 bombing at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan while Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting.
The knowledgeable Western official said al-Libi was “not far below the importance of the top two al Qaeda leaders” — Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
CNN Middle East analyst Octavia Nasr called al-Libi the third-ranking terrorist in al Qaeda and fourth in the world.
Winning the Global War of Civilizations (hey, hadn’t heard that phrase in a while, eh), one No. 3 man at a time.
–WKW